Movie Reviews

The first time we see Kokila (Nayanthara), the protagonist of Kolamavu Kokila, we see her asking superior about her raise. But he indicates that she should give him a different kind of raise so that he can take her case with the general manager. Her retort is one worthy of a mass hero, and it works mainly because it is Nayanthara who is delivering this line. It is the Lady Superstar’s ‘Unmaya sonnen’ (Baashha) moment. The film is an out-and-out star vehicle that keeps giving its star whistle-worthy moments. And most remarkably, it manages to stay true to its genre – black comedy – and ensures that the script comes before the star. Kokila’s family is your ordinary lower middle-class family. Her father (RS Sivaji) is a security guard, who considers even let his daughter discuss personal matters at his workplace – the ATM. Her sister is a college-goer while her mother (Saranya Ponvannan), a strong-willed, practical housewife, is the one who runs the show in this house. But when the...

“Alpha” is your basic “boy and his dog” story, except this time the dog is a wolf and the story takes place twenty-thousand years ago. This is marketed as a film about the “origins of man's best friend,” but if you ask me, it’s an ad designed to guilt you into buying your kids a wolf. They’ll want one too after seeing “Alpha.” In fact, the filmmakers should have just called this movie “PUH-PEEEEEE!!!” Because judging by the audience’s oohing and aahing at my IMAX 3D screening, people were all too eager to project their own warm and fuzzy domesticated canine feelings onto a wild animal who would eat them without a second thought. But let’s play the hand we’re dealt here. The boy, Keda ( Kodi Smit-McPhee ) is first seen bison hunting with his tribe. He is the son of Tau ( Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson ), the “alpha” of his people. Greatness is expected of Keda, yet he’s a sensitive lad who has a problem with killing the animals. “Life is for the strong!” his father lectures aft...

In MILE 22, James Silva ( Mark Wahlberg ) leads an elite CIA paramilitary squad that also includes Alice Kerr ( Lauren Cohan ), Sam Snow ( Ronda Rousey ), and Bishop ( John Malkovich ). The team is tasked with spiriting Li Noor ( Iko Uwais ), a man with crucial information, out of Indonesia. But the clock is ticking, and it seems like the entire city is coming down on the team as a mysterious Russian intelligence unit observes from afar. If you accept some nagging loose ends and intentionally jagged filmmaking, this is an enjoyable action thriller with some surprises. Director  Peter Berg  and Wahlberg's fourth collaboration,  Mile 22  has some of their hallmarks: gritty style, vérité, handheld camera work, a macho vibe, and violence. But there are two major differences. First, Wahlberg attempts a full-on characterization (for better or worse, he's not known as a transformational actor) and only occ...

            Movies with themes of anti-corruption and misuse of power are relevant to our times, now more than ever before. ‘Satyameva Jayate’ (SMJ) is an action thriller that works on the simple premise of an angry man, fighting corruption with raging passion and violence. While the setup is pertinent, the execution is far from ideal. This masala entertainer has a huge hangover of the staple cinema that used to draw crowds during ’70s and ’80s. But the thundering background score (the Sanskrit chanting used to heighten the drama in several scenes), unrelenting drama and over-the-top action, make this movie feel a little too jaded.  The film starts off with Veer (John Abraham) burning a cop alive. It sets the tone for the rest of the film, which over a course of 2 hours and 20 minutes, does not deviate from the set path. Veer miraculously shows up every time a cop is committing a crime in various suburbs of the city. There is a twist in the story ...

Govind(Vijay Devarakonda) is a well mannered job holder who falls in love with Geetha(Rashmika). But to his bad luck, a small rift makes Geetha loose all the impression on him. Things become even worse for Govind when Geetha’s brother decides to marry his own sister. Rest of the story is as to how Govind manages to solve all his problems and wins his love back. One of the major plus points of the film is the hot and happening Vijay Deverakonda himself. His characterization and impressive comedy timing makes a world of difference to this film. The way Vijay pulled off Govindam’s role is totally convincing and proves the fact that he will emerge as a massive star and amazing actor in the future. Vijay is just adorable throughout the film and makes you fall in love with his role at the first instance itself. Heroine Rashmika is very good in her strong role and brings depth to the proceedings with her amazing screen presence. Rashmika’s chemistry with Vijay is crackling and the...

                  One of the most boring wide-release horror flicks of recent years, Sylvain White's  Slender Man  attempts to make a conventional feature out of an internet phenomenon whose appeal seems to rest largely on its folkloric amorphousness. Older audiences that know nothing of the meme (which has inspired countless bits of fan fiction and even been associated with acts of real-world violence) will find nothing here to explain its popularity. Hustling the movie into theaters without showing it to critics, Screen Gems evidently hopes to milk that popularity for some quick cash before word of the film's poor quality spreads. But the internet is fast. The character (though it's a helluva stretch to call him that) was born on a web forum in 2009, in response to a contest looking for creepy Photoshopped images. A contributor with the pen name "Victor Surge" took two old photos of children and pasted a tall, thin, facel...

  Monster movies are meant to be CGI spectacles that make for mindless fun flicks. 'The Meg' is no different with its straightforward premise. Hollywood's obsession with sharks date all the way back to 1975, so this film is mainly an excuse for Jason Statham to take on a massive shark underwater. A big enough action star like Statham calls for a decent budget to be committed to this endeavour. This is evident as the CGI is a few notches higher to make it appear better than a B-grade flick. Jason Statham knows exactly what he signed up for, and he has the right amount of fun playing Jonas Taylor, a retired rescue diver who is called back into action. Statham's training as a diver comes handy here, and he commits to the role with a sincerity that does the film a huge favour. Chinese actors Li Bingbing & Shuya Sophia Cai have interesting chemistry with each other and are the only actors besides Statham to watch out for. The rest of the cast is practically redun...

THE DARKEST MINDS is based on the  first book  in  Alexandra Bracken 's best-selling dystopian series. The movie starts with a young Ruby Daly (Lidya Jewett) realizing that kids and teens are dying from a child-afflicting supervirus. She survives, but something is different. On the night of her 10th birthday, she touches her parents while they sleep, and by morning, her mom doesn't recognize her and calls the authorities, who take her away. Six years later, Ruby (now played by  Amandla Stenberg ) is in a prison camp for young survivors, all of whom have superpowers categorized by color: Greens are the least threatening and have enhanced intelligence, blues are telekinetic, and golds can control electricity. And then there are the two dangerous colors: oranges, who can control and enter peoples' minds, and reds, who are pyrokinetic and breathe fire. Ruby is an orange who uses her power to pose as a green. After a prison doctor/resistance fighter ( Mandy Moo...

How does the sight of a bobbing red balloon make you feel? Christopher Robin knows how — and that’s all that matters. Sometimes, as the two beloved friends of Hundred Acre Wood, created by A A Milne, Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh, will tell you, it’s best to do “nothing”. And ‘nothing’ is what this film does, not trying too hard, making it all too easy; not going for laughs but not many tears either; not all for adults but neither going only for the kids… and yet gets somewhere. And that’s all that matters. Christopher is no longer that boy inhabiting the woods with Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger and Roo. He is all grown up, weighed down over the years by a strict boarding school, a World War, a family including a much-loved wife and child, and now by a dreary job at a luxe luggage store that wants him to cut costs. One particularly bad weekend, where Robin (played as an adult by McGregor) has had to let down his daughter over a trip to the cottage in th...

            ‘Fanney Khan’ is a story of hopes, dreams and relationships. It’s about a father who will stop at nothing to put his daughter on the grand stage as the next singing sensation of India. It is the remake of the 2002 Oscar nominated Belgian film Everybody's Famous. He couldn’t become Mohammad Rafi, but harbours a dream of his daughter becoming Lata Mangeshkar. Prashant Sharma (Anil Kapoor) popularly known as Fanney Khan among his gulley friends, works hard to make ends meet, idolises Shammi Kapoor and lives only for his dream of superstardom. He fails to achieve that and hence pins his hopes on his new-born, even naming her Lata (Pihu Sand). Now in her teens, Lata not only sings well but also dances like a dream despite her plus size that regularly makes her an object of body shaming on stage. Anil Kapoor hits all the right notes as a beleaguered father, who is often reprimanded by his own child for being so unflinchingly dedicated in his...

Avinash (Dulquer), a dejected soul stuck in a dead-end job shares a strange relationship with his father. He holds him responsible for crushing his dreams. However, he is left pondering upon this longstanding hatred when he hears of his father’s untimely demise. The news of his father’s sudden death takes Avinash and his friend Shaukat (Irrfan) from Bengaluru to Kochi, a journey that gives them time to introspect on their lives. Sometimes getting lost is the best way to find yourself. This lies at the heart of Karwaan. Not all journeys wind up the way you’d imagined, and yet, they put things into perspective, be it life or relationships. The film feels a lot like that. It starts off as an incoherent, bumpy ride that takes multiple unwanted detours, before finding its true calling. Much like it’s protagonist Avinash (Dulquer Salmaan aka DQ), the story wanders aimlessly in quest of its mojo amidst a tragedy. Eventually, unravelling a journey of self discovery. Shot across the most...